Keep This $12 Tool In Your Kitchen and Your Counters Will Practically Clean Themselves

For me, there’s nothing more satisfying than waking up to a clean kitchen. The cleared countertops. A gleaming sink. Coffee ready to go. It feels like starting your day on a good note—even if tidying the night before often feels like the world’s most annoying chore.

But even if it is always worth it, there are some aspects to cleaning the kitchen that are more annoying than others. Namely, figuring out what to do with the little crumbs and stuck-on food that end up on every counter after an hour or so spent cooking or baking. Even though most of us have probably grown up doing the ol’ sweeping-crumbs-into-your-open-palm-and-throwing-them-in-the-trash move, there has to be a better solution, right?

There is: This $12 Flex Sink Squeegee from Umbra. 

Technically, this little rubber tool is marketed for bathrooms—a handheld squeegee for wet and dry messes, or for cleaning mirrors and shower doors. The real game-changer, though, is to use one of these in your kitchen. Whether you spill cereal, ketchup, honey, or water on your counter, the squeegee is perfect for brushing them away (the bristles are particularly great for that) or moving them into the sink. Plus, because it’s rubber, nothing ever sticks to it (unlike the gross experience of using a sponge or rag to wipe down a counter). Like I said, a game-changer.

I recently started keeping one of these by the sink, and right away it came in handy for even more chores than expected. I used the squeegee portion to get stuck-on food off of a stubborn old pan, and to remove crumbs and stuck-on food that had been burnt onto the surface of the stove (when it was cool, of course). The best part, though, is that the process never felt quite as uncomfortable as it did to use a disgusting old sponge or dish towel. Plus, it can be thrown in the dishwasher if it does happen to get a little nasty after a handful of uses and giving it a rinse in the sink just isn’t cutting it.

One reviewer purchased it specifically to handle countertop crumbs and messes and wrote in their review on Amazon, “Received it yesterday and already can’t believe how many paper towels I’m saving!” This presents another benefit of the tool—it’s more sustainable than other options. No more going through disposable sponges or dirtying rag after rag, only to have to do more loads of laundry than you would otherwise. 

Personally, I’m open to investing in any tool that makes the post-dinner kitchen clean up as smooth and easy as possible.